Russian Ark
Wellspring Media | Release Date: November 29, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
0
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyDeborah Young
Seems destined to go down in film history as a technical tour de force. Read full review
100
TimeRichard Corliss
A coda that will have the movie's audience gasping in exhilarated exhaustion, whispering astonished gratitude to Sokurov for having created vigorous art out of 21st century video technique and asking themselves, "What's the Russian word for Wow!?" Read full review
100
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
The best style has a purpose to it, and Russian Ark, in its hypnotic, endless swirl, gets at a deep truth of the post-Soviet psyche, haunted by its legacy of czarist rule and Stalin-era sacrifice. The film is a sad home for ghosts. Read full review
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Dramatically, this is something of a waking dream. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The film is a glorious experience to witness, not least because, knowing the technique and understanding how much depends on every moment, we almost hold our breath. Read full review
100
L.A. WeeklyHenry Sheehan
High art, low comedy, hard labor and royal prerogative are here thrown together in an elegant unity, a breathtaking demonstration of Russian cinematic -- hence artistic -- brilliance. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Audacious, gorgeous and unique. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
An astonishing technological feat, but what is even more remarkable is that the technology does not overwhelm the artistry. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Who most of these exquisitely costumed people are I have no idea, but they brush past the camera in such rapids of jubilation it's a wonder they don't knock the thing over. I watched most of the film exhilarated, but depressed that I'm not a big Russophile. Read full review
100
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The result is a magnificent feast for the eyes and brain. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Extraordinary film, one that, like the museum itself, captures and shows three centuries of Russian culture and history in all its beauty, confusion, terror and majesty. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Well worth seeing on the wide screen before its video release next year. It's guaranteed to take your breath away. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleKenneth Baker
Marks a cinematic milestone. Read full review
100
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
Turns out to be more than simply a near-miracle of filmmaking, however; it is also an astonishing work of art, a historical epic that drifts through one's consciousness like a reverie. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
That rare thing at the movies these days: a new experience. It awes us with its technological feat, it sweeps us up in its mystical spell and, with its final scene -- it takes us to an emotional climax of almost unbearable poignancy. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen Holden
A magnificent conjuring act, an eerie historical mirage. Read full review
90
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
By the time of the closing shot -- twists of fog rising like spectres from a leaden sea -- even the most stubborn viewer will be lying back in a state of happy hypnosis. [16 December 2002, p. 106]
88
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Even in its most tedious scenes, Russian Ark is mesmerizing. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It was only with the advent of digital technology that the notion of an entire film done in a single take became possible. Mike Figgis got there first with ''Time Code,'' and now the Russian director Alexander Sokurov has brought off a comparably startling feat with Russian Ark. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The problem with these feats is that they threaten to overwhelm the film's content, both as complex historical commentary and as aesthetic and theoretical gesture. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Dazzling dance to the music of time. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
It’s a hyper-aestheticized meditation on the meaning of history, visually astonishing, dramatically stilted. No masterpiece, but quite a feat (and quite effete). Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The final effect, particularly the climactic ballroom sequence, is astonishing -- a haunting impression of the vast synchronicity of unbroken time that must surely stand as one of the great achievements in the development of the movie medium. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A tour de force of modern cinema. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
A technical and visual tour-de-force. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The first movie I'd have enjoyed more asleep. That's not because it put me to sleep, but because it may be the most dreamlike film I've ever seen. Read full review
70
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Substantively there is no content. Everything we see or hear engages us only as part of a directorial tour de force. That force is exceptional, but since there is not much more to the picture, it leaves us hungry. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
For the truth is, given the audacity, the organization, the seriousness of purpose, the movie isn't nearly as provocative as you think it might be. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
By turns intriguing, boring, frustrating, amazing and stirring, this is a tour de force that, necessarily, lacks dramatic force, but one that creates a dream state of seemingly limitless dimensions.
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
It's a cinematic feat, an art lover's dream, but as a moviegoing experience, Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark is something of a letdown. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Sokurov, for all his accomplishment, is less a bold innovator than a raider of lost art. Read full review
20
Film ThreatPhil Hall
Little more than a travelogue designed to show off the grandeur of the Hermitage, with the silly actors in fancy costumes getting in the way of the paintings and sculptures on display. Read full review
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